China Eyes Afghanistan as US Exits

U.S. General Austin Miller (L) shakes hand with Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, at a ceremony in Kabul, as Miller relinquishes command during the final phase of America's withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan, on July 12, 2021. Phil Stewart/Reuters

Commentary

On July 8, President Joe Biden officially posited that the U.S. “military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31”—retracting from the earlier plan of drawing down the forces by Sept. 11 (20th anniversary of 9/11). Biden’s move came in the wake of the Taliban’s increasing territorial foothold in Afghanistan, inching closer to Kabul—with the Taliban now claiming to be in control of 80 percent of Afghanistan since launching its offensive against the Afghan government. The offensive came against Biden’s announcement in April that the United States will not meet the deadline set under the U.S.-Taliban Agreement to withdraw all troops by May 1 and instead released a plan for complete drawdown by Sept. 11. Thereby, the U.S. troops’ withdrawal has met with successive military gains by the Taliban—bringing an end to the “peace process.”